Sanford Joins Letter Opposing Seismic Testing in the Atlantic
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Representative Mark Sanford (R-SC) joined with 92 of his House colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary Zinke and Secretary Ross. It requests that the administration call a halt to the permitting process for potential seismic testing in the Atlantic Ocean.
He released the following statement:
“The administration’s latest action in opening the waters of the Atlantic to seismic testing is a decision that is fundamentally at odds with the notion that the government closest to the people governs best.
“Locals should indeed have some degree of authority in determining what happens next in their communities because the onshore infrastructure necessary to support offshore operations is considerable. One look at a place like Port Fourchon in Louisiana is a reminder of how real the impact is to the look and feel of a coastal community. It’s for reasons like this that the response to seismic testing up and down the coast has been a resounding “no.” Indeed, every single coastal municipality in South Carolina has already formally opposed oil and gas development in the Atlantic.
“It is for this reason that I have led letters to the administration asking to maintain the bans on offshore drilling and seismic testing in the Atlantic. In the footsteps of the president’s decision to open the Atlantic to offshore drilling, I introduced the Coastal Economies Protection Act to place a 10-year moratorium on oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic. And today, I once again join with my colleagues in urging the administration to respect the wishes of the coastal communities that I represent as well as many others along the eastern seaboard, who so vocally oppose seismic testing.”
Full text of the letter below:
December 6, 2018
The Honorable Wilbur Ross
Secretary
U.S. Department of Commerce
1401 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20230
The Honorable Ryan Zinke
Secretary
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW,
Washington, D.C. 20240
Dear Secretaries Ross and Zinke:
We strongly oppose the Administration’s recent decision to issue five Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) permits for companies planning to conduct seismic geological and geophysical surveys along the Atlantic coast—a major step toward offshore oil and gas drilling. We urge the Department of the Interior to deny the final seismic survey permits for Atlantic geological and geophysical exploration.
These permits authorize five companies to use seismic airguns that can disturb, harm, and potentially kill not only marine mammals but also a wide range of marine life that support coastal economies from Florida to Maine. Offshore oil and gas exploration and development, the first step of which is seismic airgun testing, puts at risk coastal economies based on fishing, tourism, and recreation. Numerous studies show the detrimental impacts seismic airgun blasting has on fisheries and marine mammals, thereby affecting the catch anglers bring dockside and the revenue generated by related businesses.
A 2014 study conducted off North Carolina’s coast by the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Duke University and NOAA found that, during seismic surveying, the abundance of reef-fish declined by 78 percent during evening hours, a time of day when fish use of that same habitat was highest on the previous three days when seismic surveys were not being conducted. The tertiary effects of this trickle down to fishing businesses, restaurants and the visitors that flock to our coastal communities.
Some proponents of opening drilling in the Atlantic make the argument that seismic airgun surveys for oil and gas deposits would allow local communities to learn more about what resources might be available. The reality is that, by law, the data obtained from seismic surveys are proprietary and only available to the oil and gas industry. The public, local government officials and even Members of Congress would not have access to the survey data. This inability to access information leaves coastal communities without the opportunity to perform substantive cost-benefit analyses for extracting oil and gas reserves off their coasts. Our constituents would be left taking on significant risk without being involved in future development decisions.
We hear from countless business owners, elected officials and residents along our coasts who recognize and reject the risks of offshore oil and gas development. More than 220 local municipalities have passed formal resolutions opposing oil and gas exploration and/or drilling in the Atlantic or Eastern Gulf. These include numerous local chambers of commerce, tourism and restaurant associations, commercial and recreational fishing associations, and the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils. Nearly 2,000 local, state and federal officials, including all but two Governors of states bordering the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, have formally opposed or expressed substantial concerns about expanded offshore oil and gas development. Local chambers of commerce, tourism and restaurant associations, and an alliance representing over 43,000 businesses and 500,000 commercial fishing families strongly oppose offshore oil and gas exploration and drilling. Further, NASA, the Department of Defense, and the Florida Defense Support Task Force have also expressed concern with offshore oil and gas development threatening their ability to perform critical activities.
Opening the Atlantic to seismic testing and drilling jeopardizes our coastal businesses, fishing communities, tourism, and our national security. It harms our coastal economies in the near term and opens the door to even greater risks from offshore oil and gas production down the road. Given the significant environmental and economic risks, we strongly oppose the issuance of IHA permits for companies seeking to conduct seismic testing in the Atlantic. We therefore urge the Administration not to issue final seismic airgun blasting permits for the Atlantic Ocean.
Sincerely,